To establish the shelf-life of beef, vacuum-packaged imported chilled beef(chuck and knuckle) was purchased from 2 American companies(M. Co. and I. Co.). The samples were transported by air and stored at 4±1℃ and 0±1℃, respectively. The chemical composition, total microbes, anaerobic microbes, coliform colony count, drip loss, TBA value, volatile basic nitrogen(VBN) and sensory evaluation were determined. Since drip loss and TBA value do not show a direct influence on the shelf-life of beef, the microbial changes, VBN and sensory evaluation were focused. In the case of vacuum-packaged chilled beef, the time needed to reach 10^6 total microbes at 4±1℃ was 27 days after slaughtering, for beef from I. Co. and 30 days for M. Co. At 0±1℃, however, it was 62 days for I. Co. and 72 days for M. Co. Under the storage at 4±1℃, VBN of both I. Co. and M. Co. beef reached to 20.1㎎% after 37 days, while that of M. Co. after 83 days was 20.6㎎g% at 0±1℃. The sensory scores of freshness and odor were less than 4 for beef from both I. Co. and M. Co. stored at 4±1℃ for 37 days. Those scores of 1. Co. beef stored for 62 days and M. Co. beef stored for 72 days under 0±1℃ were also less than 4. Therefore, the shelf life of vacuum-packaged imported chilled beef from I. Co. and M. Co. was 37 days after slaughtering at 4±1℃, while that of beef from I. Co. was 62 days after slaughtering and that from M. Co. was 72 days, at 0±1℃.